It’s been one heck of a year for carbon geeks. Thanks to Al Gore and his travelling slideshow, climate change has moved out of the fringes and into our offices, our homes and our shopping trolleys. Just in case it’s all flashed by too fast, here’s a reminder of key events of 2007. Not that we’re viewing the world through green-tinted glassesâ¦

January

Retailers fell over themselves to be the first to announce climate-friendly measures: on January 15, Marks & Spencer unveiled a £200million ‘eco plan’ to become carbon-neutral in five years, while three days later, Tesco said it would label all of its 70,000 products so that shoppers could compare carbon costs.

February 2

The first volume of the fourth report from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was released, rating the probability that global warming was caused by humans at more than 90 per cent. It prompted then Environment Secretary David Miliband to declare the ‘debate about climate change is now over’.

March 13

The Government published its draft Climate Change Bill, making Britain the first nation to have a legal framework for managing carbon emissions. Ministers proposed targets to cut emissions by 60 per cent before 2050, with annual reports to Parliament on progress.

April 25

Charity We Are What We Do launched its £5 ‘I’m Not A Plastic Bag’ bag in 200 Sainsbury’s stores. Although the must-have item, designed by Anya Hindmarch (pictured below, left) was criticised for not using Fairtrade cotton, it did mark a turning point in making eco issues high fashion.

May 23

The Energy White Paper pledged to triple the share of electricity from renewables to 15 per cent by 2015 and to kit all households with smart meters by 2017. But the focus was on nuclear power, launching a consultation on replacing Britain’s 14 ageing plants â which produce almost a fifth of the nation’s electricity â with new power stations.

June 23 – July 2

Unesco’s World Heritage Committee met in New Zealand and decided to add the Galapagos Islands (Galapagos sea lion, pictured) to its World Heritage in Danger List due to the threat of tourism to the islands’ ecosystem.

July 7

Up to 2billion people watched stars talk about insulation at eight Live Earth gigs around the world, including Wembley (Madonna, pictured right). Although they were criticised for lacking the big, specific demand of Make Poverty History, the concerts did flick a switch in many Brits’ minds: sales of energy-saving bulbs soared 110 per cent by the following week.

August

Wet householders heaved a sigh of relief as the weather dried up and flooding receded across the nation. More than 55,000 homes and businesses were flooded as Britain experienced the wettest May-to-July period since records began. Insured losses approached £3billion and 140,000 homes in Gloucestershire lost water supplies for more than a week. In October, the Chancellor pledged to increase flood spending from £600m a year to £800m by 2010/2011, while Defra’s Pitt Review into the floods is due to report back next year.

September 10

Body Shop founder Anita Roddick died from a brain haemorrhage at the age of 64. Friends of the Earth’s Tony Juniper called her ‘a leading light of the modern green movement’, while Gordon Brown said: ‘She inspired millions to the cause by bringing sustainable products to a mass market.’

October 12

Al Gore was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize jointly with the IPCC. The former US vice-president copped flak earlier in the month when a British judge said his 2006 film, An Inconvenient Truth, contained nine errors and was alarmist. But the Nobel Committee praised Gore as ‘probably the single individual who has done most to create greater worldwide understanding of the measures that need to be adopted’.

November 17

The final volume in the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report was launched, stating that climate change is ‘unequivocal’ and may bring ‘abrupt and irreversible’ impacts. It prompted UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to urge action from politicians at a UN climate change conference in Bali. ‘Today the world’s scientists have spoken clearly and with one voice,’ he said. ‘In Bali, I expect the world’s policymakers to do the same.’

December 1 to 14

Wrapping up last Friday, the Bali summit aimed to start work on a replacement for the Kyoto Protocol on climate change. Despite US concerns, a compromise â setting out a road map to further reduce emissions beyond Kyoto â was reached.